YOU DESCRIBE SOME OF THE MORE TACTLESS TV REPORTERS IN THIS BOOK. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE WAY THE STORY HAS BEEN COVERED SO FAR? WHERE THERE MOMENTS WHEN YOU FELT UNCOMFORTABLE BEING A REPORTER? I always feel uncomfortable being a reporter when people are suffering. My best friend recently died, and if someone walked up to me at his funeral and asked me a question for People magazine, I'd probably kick him or her right in the crotch.

As for the TV reporters — yes, I get all over them, always. There are a lot of well-meaning and talented ones, but there are also tons whose primary obligation is to report bullshit ripped directly from the dailies, or even TMZ. As much shit as I've given them, though, it was nice to see some of the local characters get to cover something real for a change. Some of them even did a damn good job. Maybe in the future they'll ask their producers to continue doing serious news when this is over, though I highly doubt it.

HOW DO YOU THINK THESE EVENTS WILL CHANGE THE CITY? This is a smart city, with smart people, so a lot of the bullshit that we saw at the national level — as far as big losses of civil liberties via the Patriot Act and other unconstitutional atrocities — will be toned down. With that said, we're all fucked in some way or another. There's no way there won't be a gigantic money grab by the military industrial complex — they specialize in post-traumatic manipulation.

YOU WRITE THAT "LIKE SEEMINGLY EVERYBODY ELSE AROUND HERE, I'M SEARCHING FOR A BIT OF CLOSURE, HOWEVER SUPERFICIAL, HOWEVER TEMPORARY." IS CLOSURE POSSIBLE? No. There is no closure for this. Not for me at least. As much as I try acting normal, I'm an emotional basket case. I had a bit too much to drink a few nights ago, and wound up a crying mess, screaming at the top of my lungs and punching the floor. This book will close out the immediate thoughts, feelings, and observations that I initially had — and I think that's important, especially later on, in the long term — but it also only begins a new chapter that might be even scarier than the last.

For details about buying Heartbreak Hell, go to wtpbooks.net. The book will also be available for free online shortly after its release, Faraone says.